It is presently the practice among billiard players in shooting with a billiard cue to support the cue with the hand used as a guide hand and to move the cue longitudinally with the other hand relative to the guide hand with a short jab or thrusting motion. The movement of the cue across the surface of the guide hand is extremely critical in achieving accuracy in shooting. It is quite important for this movement to be achieved with the least possible friction.
One system which has been developed to reduce friction in moving a billiard cue relative to the guide hand of a player involves the application of a dry lubricating powder to the fingers of the billiard player's guide hand. This dry lubricant is typically a white chalk powder and is applied from a container having a number of apertures through which the powder is dusted onto the hand of an individual. The powder is quite messy to use, however, and must be applied frequently throughout play. In addition, the powder, because of its nature and manner of application, falls to the surface of the billiard table and to the floor of the room in which the table is located. Moreover, as the billiard players move their hands past their clothing, the lubricating powder is picked up on the articles of clothing which they wear. Consequently, at the end of a session of billiards, the felt covering of the billiard table, the floor of the room in which the table is located, and the clothing of the participants are covered with the lubricating powder. Cleaning of each of the areas in which the lubricating powder is left is then necessary.
To properly clean the felt top of a billiard table, the felt must be brushed to remove dirt and powder left after a session of billiards. To remove the lubricating powder, the billiard table must be brushed particularly hard and for a particularly long period of time. Such hard brushing reduces the life of the felt covering on the table to a very significant extent. As a result, the conventional system for facilitating the movement of a billiard cue relative to the guide hand of a player entails marked shortcomings.
In the past, there have been attempts to develop gloves or other articles to aid in billiard shooting by reducing the friction of longitudinal sliding action of the billiard cue relative to the guide hand of the player. All of these devices have failed to gain acceptance among billiard players, however, because they have been difficient in one or more respects.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for smoothing the longitudinal movement of a billiard cue relative to the guide hand of an individual by providing a particularly useful article for wear on the player's guide hand.
A further object of the invention is to provide a glove or covering which may be worn on the guide hand of a billiard player and which includes a soft fabric covering for the entire knuckle areas of the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the guide hand. The glove leaves the ring finger and little finger completely free, however. Thus, the glove is readily adaptable to virtually any style of play. It provides a smooth surface for guiding the cue whether the player forms a bridge with the knuckles of his index and middle fingers, whether he passes the cue through a loop formed by his index finger relative to his thumb whether he shoots with the cue resting on the surface of his hand extending between his thumb and index finger, or whether he adopts some other style of billiard play. The covering apparatus of the present invention is equally applicable and useful with any style of shooting which the player adopts.
Another object of the invention is to provide an article as an aid in billiard shooting which may be conveniently and snugly worn on the guide hand of the player, but which is not difficult to put on or remove. To facilitate putting the gloove of the invention on and taking it off, a strap is provided which extends around the guide hand of the player and fastens in the player's wrist area. The glove is releasably fastenable to alternatively be held snugly in position on the player's hand, or to allow easy removal.
A further object of the invention is to provide a covering or glove adaptable to various styles of play as aforesaid, by leaving the ring finger and little finger completely free from the covering. Since the surfaces of these fingers are never used as guide surfaces, no useful purpose is achieved by covering them. Moreover, by leaving these fingers completely free, the player is allowed additional latitude and freedom of movement to use these fingers to form a base for resting his guide hand relative to the billiard table.
Another objective of the invention is to provide an aid for facilitating movement of a billiard cue relative to the guide hand of a player. This accessory may be worn as a glove rather than existing as a separate article used by a number of players and which must be continually sought and replaced. Each player ideally has his own billiard glove constructed according to the invention so that he becomes familiar and comfortable to the feel of a single article useful in serving as an aid in improving billiard shooting.